South Korea and Japan’s Maitreyas in meditation, both wearing peaceful smiles, have faced each other for the first time for a special museum exhibit.
  
The National Museum of Korea unveiled the statues on Monday, a day before the museum holds a special exhibition on the two statues to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Japan.
 
South Korea and Japan each has two such statues of Maitreya in a semi-seated contemplative pose. The statues were made in India and reached South Korea and Japan after passing through Central Asia and China.
 
South Korea’s Maitreya in meditation, the country's 78th national treasure, is a gilt-bronze statue made in the sixth century. Japan’s statue is made out of wood and was made during the Asuka period in the seventh century. 
 
The head of the national museum, Lee Young-hoon, assessed that the works eloquently express the two countries’ long-time cultural exchanges, citing that it would mark the first time in some 14-hundred years for the two statues to meet.
 
Tokyo National Museum Director Zeniya Masami said that the two statues are unprecedented pieces of work in both countries and the fruit of ancient cultural exchanges.
 
The works will be transferred to the Tokyo National Museum and put on display from June 21st to July tenth.